If nothing else, 2023 was a great year for movies, which made this year’s Oscars a must-see event for film buffs everywhere. From blockbusters like Barbie and Oppenheimer to stars like Lily Gladstone and Emma Stone, many nominees had viewers flocking to watch the 96th Academy Awards.
The total number of people who tuned in to the televised ceremonies is yet to be published, but what we do know is that millions engaged with the awards via social and digital media. Here’s how the show measured up when it came to mentions across social and news sources on March 10, the day of the awards.
The Oscars in General
Overall, there were about 4.42 million mentions of the awards show itself. Those mentions peaked at more than 879,000 at 9 p.m. ET, as the telecast ended.
There were about 81,500 mentions of the show and its host Jimmy Kimmel, but he was outshined by mentions of the show’s red carpet, about 201,000.
The Most Talked-About Category
When it comes to conversations about the categories themselves, Best Picture came out on top. Between Best Actor and Best Actress, there were about 11,200 more mentions of the award for men than the one for women. This was likely due to the fact that Oppenheimer, for which Cillian Murphy won the Best Actor award, also won multiple other awards that night, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Cinematography. And while Best Song isn’t always a highly-anticipated category, this year it generated nearly as much conversation as Best Director.
The Most Talked-About Best Song Nominee
Oscar winner: “What Was I Made For?” from Barbie
Digital mentions winner: “I’m Just Ken” from Barbie
Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell took home the award, but it was the other Barbie song that generated the most conversation. There were about 253,000 mentions of “I’m Just Ken” compared to about 113,000 mentions of “What Was I Made For?” That gap is all thanks to Ryan Gosling’s highly-anticipated performance that became one of the standout moments of the night.
Interestingly, a significant portion of the “I’m Just Ken” conversation came from outside the United States, where the awards were held, and Canada, where Gosling is from. Over 23,000 mentions came from Brazil alone.
The Most Talked-About Best Director Nominee
Oscar winner: Christopher Nolan for Oppenheimer
Digital mentions winner: Christopher Nolan for Oppenheimer
Christopher Nolan was the most talked-about Best Director nominee with about 154,000 mentions. Jonathan Glazer came in second place with about ⅔ as many mentions thanks to his Best International Feature win for his film The Zone of Interest.
The Most Talked-About Best Actress Nominee
Oscar winner: Emma Stone for Poor Things
Digital mentions winner: Emma Stone for Poor Things
Emma Stone was by far the most talked-about Best Actress nominee throughout the night, including during the red carpet show, with about 371,000 mentions. Meanwhile, Lily Gladstone came in second place with 109,000.
Sandra Hüller came in third place overall, except in Germany, where she is from. There she got about 1,300 more mentions than Stone.
The Most Talked-About Best Actor Nominee
Oscar winner: Cillian Murphy for Oppenheimer
Digital mentions winner: Cillian Murphy for Oppenheimer
Cillian Murphy trumped all of the other Best Actor nominees big time with about 293,000 mentions. Bradley Cooper came in at a far-off second place with about 75,900 mentions.
That gap was much narrower in Brazil, however. There, Bradley Cooper generated about 12,300 mentions compared to Cillian Murphy’s about 15,900. And while top keywords for each actor generally focused on their films, those for Colman Domingo also focused on his arrival.
“Red carpet” was the top keyword for the Rustin actor, who was one of the best-dressed of the night.
The Most Talked-About Best Picture Nominee
Oscar winner: Oppenheimer
Digital mentions winner: Oppenheimer
Digital mentions winner: Digital mentions winner: Oppenheimer
Globally, Oppenheimer was the most talked-about Best Picture nominee throughout the night of the Academy Awards, racking up about 609,000 mentions. And though Barbie grossed the most at the box office worldwide, it came in second in terms of Oscars night conversation with about 336,000 mentions.
However, it must be noted that Barbie was the leading movie on Pinterest. There, Barbie and its signature pink aesthetic was much more popular than any other film, generating nearly 1,800 mentions.
In the end, Oscar award wins generally correlated with higher social and media conversations, but Ryan Gosling demonstrated the attention-grabbing power of a good ceremony performance. Want to learn more about which topics are appealing to your audience most? Learn how with a demo of the Meltwater Suite:
